“Is Clara going to be okay?” Mara asked anxiously.
“It’s scary, I know, Mara. But I’m sure she’s going to be fine. Nathaniel and Jacob will take good care of her. We have the right medicines here. She’ll be asleep the whole time, and she won’t feel anything. You’ll need to stay here with her for a few days while she recovers, though.”
He was surprised by how wide both of their eyes grew at this news. Mara and Josiah looked at each other, terror plain in their expressions. He frowned. “You’re safe here, you know. No harm will come to your family here at the castle.”
The look on Josiah’s face was not trusting at all. “What are you worried about?” William asked.
He saw the man’s hand reach protectively over the left side of his chest, where he assumed a tattoo hid under his shirt.
“He’s worried we’ll be arrested,” Mara answered, though her husband was shooting her a look that clearly indicated he wished she wouldn’t speak. “We’ve heard stories, about others.”
A weight settled in William’s chest. “Those stories aren’t true Josiah. The only arrests that have been made in Eirentheos are to those who have done our people harm. We have arrested some for poisoning our children, for burning homes and clinics. But not for escaping to safety with their children.”
“In Philotheum, the Friends of Philip are being blamed for everything. When we first decided to leave, we believed it was different in Eirentheos. But we kept hearing rumors ...” Josiah slumped into one of the chairs along the front wall of the room.
William sighed. Simon had told him about some of the rumors. “We believe those rumors are being spread by those against your cause – others coming across the border from Philotheum and targeting the border towns and the refugee camps. They want to weaken the Friends of Philip. My father and my oldest brother believe that in a way it’s a positive sign, an indication that the resistance is gaining in strength and power, and those who are against the cause are starting to see it as a real threat.”
Quinn looked at him in interest – he hadn’t yet shared this with her.
“So it is true that King Stephen supports the resistance - the Friends of Philip?”
“Yes, Josiah, he does – as do I. Our goals are the same as yours – to see a proper heir on the throne of Philotheum, and to restore the brotherhood that our kingdoms rightfully share. And our goal here, tonight, is the same as yours as well. To see your family cared for, clean and fed, and for your beautiful little girl to be healthy again. You are not in danger here. Can you trust me, please?”
“I don’t see that we have any other choice right now.” Josiah answered.
William closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fair enough,” he said. “I’m sure that the two of you would like to stay here, and be with Clara as soon as they are finished. If you will allow it, we will take the other children up to the castle and help them get bathed and fed. Later we can bring them back, or take you up to them. As long as the surgery is uncomplicated, we’ll be able to take Clara up to an apartment in the castle tonight where she can stay with you and we can care for her there.”
Quinn and William had almost made it to the door to go outside to the children when Josiah came up behind them. “Prince William?” he said in a low voice.
“Yes?” he turned, surprised. Something in the man’s tone made him feel the need to step slightly in front of Quinn.
“I do trust you now, thank you. But I’m going to warn you – it wasn’t so wise for you to just trust me. You should have asked to see my tattoo, and my wife’s as well.”
“What?” William’s eyes widened and his heart rate accelerated.
Josiah pulled back the collar of his shirt, revealing the design, an intricate coupling of the seals of Eirentheos and Philotheum. He noticed again that some of the details in the pattern were oddly raised. “You can trust us, too – but I’m telling you to be more careful, please. Always be certain of who you are talking to, even if you think you know.”
Still feeling strange, and his heart still beating faster than normal, William nodded, then turned and led Quinn out of the clinic.
* * *
Although they spent much of the evening together, caring for the Halpern children, it wasn’t until much later in the evening that Quinn finally had the chance to speak to William alone. She was in the common room with Linnea and Thomas. They’d eaten dinner in there with the children while Nathaniel and William were getting Clara settled in a guest apartment with her parents.
Now they were playing a game of Choice while sort of keeping an ear on the shrieks and giggles coming from the playroom across the hall. Every few minutes one of the younger children ran in, needing something. Quinn had just finished tying the back of a dress-up costume for Emma and was watching her skip back to play when William walked past the door.
She turned to look at Thomas and Linnea. “I’m going to go talk to Will,” she said, setting her cards face-down on the table.
“Sure, leave when I’m winning,” Thomas teased, grinning.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Hey, Josh!” she called across the room, to where Joshua sat in a chair, absorbed in a book. He’d come upstairs only a few minutes ago. “Why don’t you come play my hand and take Thomas down a peg?”
At thirteen cycles, Joshua was next in line after Thomas and Linnea. They often treated him as if he were still younger than he was, but Quinn knew that he loved to be included when they did things. She was right; he grinned and came right over.
She found William just outside the doorway to his bedroom. He looked exhausted, and there were still tiny spatters of blood on the leg of his pants. She almost turned around before he saw her; she wasn’t sure this was the right time to bother him – maybe tomorrow when he’d rested, but he must have heard her approaching, because he looked up when she was still a few feet away.
She was startled by the violent little stutter in her heartbeat when his eyes lit up.
“Hey,” he said walking her direction and meeting her halfway.
“Hi,” she suddenly found it difficult to speak over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.
He smiled. “Want to come in for a minute?” he asked, walking back toward his bedroom door.
She nodded, following him inside and over to one of the large, overstuffed sofas in front of the fireplace. They never spent much time in William’s bedroom – he worried about impropriety when they were alone, and it just somehow wasn’t a room where they spent much time when they were hanging out with his siblings.
His room was easily the most eclectic out of everyone’s bedrooms. On her first trip to the castle, Quinn hadn’t even known he had his own room. He rarely slept here, preferring to be with Thomas when he was home. This room was more just a private space where he studied and worked, or retreated to when he wanted time alone. Huge, built-in bookcases lined an entire wall, filled with a crazy variety of books from both her world and his. Several shelves held devices and toys that he’d clearly brought back with him. There were more than a couple empty candy wrappers, too – the packets of Skittles always made her smile. The two big bags of them she’d purchased as the only birthday present she could think of were stowed carefully in the bottom drawer of her armoire.
A long table under the window served as a mini-laboratory. There were three microscopes, and an assortment of test tubes, bottles, jars, and many things Quinn couldn’t even identify.
“How are you?” William asked, as she curled up at the end of the couch.
“I’m good,” she said, though her heart still fluttered nervously. “How is Clara?”
“The surgery went very well, and she’s going to be fine. I think they’ll all be much better after a couple good nights of sleep.” He sat down on the other end of the sofa from her, sighing and leaning his head back into the cushion. “What have you been up to this evening?”
“Helping out with the kids, but...” her heart pounded a little more furiously now, “mo
stly I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
His face fell, and her stomach gave a sickening lurch. What was wrong? What had she said now?
“Quinn ... I’m always going to be busy like this. I thought you realized that. I can’t always be around every time you want to talk.”
Oh. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes, and the sick feeling spread outward from her stomach, as she fought back the urge to flee. She had almost decided to make her exit when, suddenly, she understood. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. She understood William’s reaction perfectly. You can do this. Of course he was defensive. She’d pushed at him once already this morning, and now he was exhausted. As her heartbeat thundered in her ears again, she looked up at him, meeting his eyes.
“Will,” she said softly, “I know that.” She moved, sliding herself across the couch until she was sitting on the cushion next to him. Curling her legs up under herself, she faced him. Her hands were shaking, so she hid them in her lap. “I know you were busy. I’m not upset that you were, okay? I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t impatient. I was just waiting.”
His expression softened a little, and she took another deep breath.
“I might have been busy all night, Quinn. I’ll probably be going back to check on Clara again in a little while.”
She nodded, still looking him in the eye. “I know.” Steadying herself as much as she could, she reached for his hand. She hadn’t realized just how nervous she was about the gesture until the relief when he reached back toward her nearly knocked her over.
She looked down at his hand, nestling her fingers in with his, before she looked back up at his face. “It’s what I wanted to talk you about, Will. I’m here, okay? If it would have taken you all night, or until tomorrow, or whatever –whenever you come back, I want you to come back to me.”
Although his expression was even softer now, she could see surprise in his eyes. He reached to take her other hand in his. “What are you saying, Quinn?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get the right words in her head. Another deep breath – it would be best to start at the beginning.
“Look, Will, I know I hurt you this morning, that I ruined your surprise.”
“Quinn, you didn’t...”
She shook her head and reached up, touching her finger to his lips. “I did. You have been unendingly patient with me, and I don’t know if you even realize how much that means to me.”
His mouth twitched again, and she raised her eyebrow. “Just listen. I know what the reality of this situation is. Actually, after today, there’s a lot more we’re going to need to talk about. But I want to tell you this part first. Whatever else happens, I know that what I really want is you. I want to know you. At the end of the day, you’re the one I want to tell everything to – even if it’s the next day.”
William moved closer now, and she could feel his hands trembling in hers. “We don’t know...” he started.
“I know we don’t. But I’ve been thinking about this. And the thing is, I don’t want to miss this time with you just because of what might happen. I want to be with you and we can just see what happens together.”
He blinked, a hint of moisture in the corners of his eyes. “That’s what I want too, Quinn. I feel like I’ve spent my whole life holding back, not really getting involved in anything. And you were right, in the end all that’s really done is it’s made me miss out on time I could have been enjoying with people I care about.”
He paused, and she saw him swallow a couple of times. Although seeing him like this put a strange heat in her own throat, she squeezed his hand reassuringly.
“I was going to ask you today if it would be all right with you if we made our courtship official. I want to tell my family about us, and I would like to formally escort you at my birthday celebration.”
She nodded, her thudding heartbeat taking on an entirely new pattern “I would like that very much, Will.” And she leaned in this time to kiss him, her bottom lip grazing his top one as his hands found their way around her back.
Neither one of them wanted to pull away; even after the kiss ended, they sat there for several minutes, her forehead against his cheek as their fingers wound and unwound. Finally, though, he leaned back far enough to be able to look into her eyes.
“What did you mean when you said ‘after today there’s a lot more we’re going to need to talk about’?”
She sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Of course you heard that.”
He raised an eyebrow, reaching for her hand again.
“Give me a minute,” she said, taking a deep breath. She stood and walked around the room, needing to expel some of the sudden nervous energy that had overtaken her. How much should she tell him?
“Quinn! What’s wrong?” William asked, concerned now, standing and walking over to her.
She couldn’t make her mouth form the words, she had no idea where to start or how much to say. Trying to collect herself, she stared at the pattern in the parquet floor so intently that the lines and shapes began to blur together.
“Okay, Quinn, you’re worrying me here. What is going on? If we need to talk about something, then just tell me. I’m sorry I overreacted a minute ago, but I’m not going anywhere. I need you to trust me, please.”
Just before the lines in the floor disappeared entirely, she realized that she was making this harder than she had to. She took a deep breath. There was no way she could keep this from him forever anyway. And he was right – she needed to trust him. For the second time that day, she reached into her pocket and withdrew the little drawstring pouch.
He frowned when he saw the little bag in her hand. “What? ...” he started to ask, but she lifted her finger, shaking her head.
After carefully easing the ties open, she turned the pouch over, and the pendants fell into her hand.
William gasped before he’d even picked one up to look at it more closely. “One is yours, isn’t it?” he asked.
She nodded, picking up the shinier one and laying it in his outstretched hand. “The other one is my father’s.” That one she held between her thumb and forefinger, rubbing it nervously.
William didn’t speak as he held the pendant up into the light, examining it carefully on both sides. All of the color had drained from his face, and his hands began to shake visibly, the tiny chain of the pendant vibrating against the back of his hand.
“Quinn Katriel Rose,” he finally breathed, in a voice that was almost inaudible.
She nodded.
He looked at her now, shock the most dominant emotion in his eyes. “You’re the rightful heir to the throne.”
She nodded again.
They stood there for several minutes, William turning the pendant over and over in his hand until Quinn started to feel dizzy. “I think ... I need to sit back down,” she whispered.
Without a word, he followed her back to the couch, where they sat in silence again, for what felt like a very long time.
Finally, he took a deep breath. “How long have you known?”
“My mom just gave me the pendants when I went home a few days ago.”
He was quiet again, and her throat started to feel very tight; she had trouble pulling in a deep breath. Her knees came back up to her chest, and the longer he was silent, the tighter she curled into her ball. “Are you mad at me?” she managed to squeak.
Instantly, his expression unfroze, and he turned his entire body toward her. His eyes swept over her, taking in her posture, and in the next second he was sitting next to her, gently reaching deep into the ball to put his hand over her heart.
“Hey,” he said, in a voice so gentle it made the tears that had been hiding behind her eyes begin to pour, without warning, down her cheeks. “Quinn, of course I’m not mad at you. Why would I be mad at you about this?”
She shrugged, still huddled tight behind her knees. “Because I didn’t tell you right away? Because it doesn’t make any sense? Because –
because what in the hell am I supposed to do about this, Will?”
* * *
After he’d walked Quinn back to her room, William did not go to check on Clara as he’d told her he was going to. If Nathaniel wanted to keep secrets like this from him, he could take care of a patient for a while on his own, too.
How could Nathaniel – his parents – anyone else who knew about this keep it from him for this long?
He’d glanced into the sitting room and the play room when he’d walked by and seen that they were both empty – everyone had migrated to their bedrooms for the night. Good. He walked all the way to the end of the hallway and stopped just outside the door to his parents’ private apartment. He knocked – three sharp raps on the door – and then waited. He knew they would still be awake.
His mother answered the door, already in her dressing gown, his baby sister curled in her arms.
“Will!” Charlotte said, surprised. “What’s going on?”
Before he could answer, his father appeared behind her. “I’m guessing he needs to talk, Charlotte. Come on in, Son.”
22. The Birthday Party
“That should not be allowed.”
Quinn turned from her spot in front of the mirror in her bedroom to see Thomas standing in the open doorway. She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“You, looking like that. It should be expressly against the law. Nobody will be able to pay attention to anything else tonight.”
She blushed. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
He walked across the room to stand next to her. All day yesterday and today he’d been practicing walking without using his crutches at all. She was impressed how well he was already doing.
Thomas raised an eyebrow at her reflection in the mirror. “Not true? Have you looked at yourself?”
She looked. It was a pretty dress, the full skirt overlaid with a crisscross of purple velvet strips with complex flowers cut out of them. The top was form-fitting and simple, held up by lacy spaghetti straps. Mia had spent over an hour braiding her auburn hair in an intricate pattern until it hung just right at the nape of her neck.
Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) Page 24